This invention relates to a safety release cable for a train, and more particularly to a safety release cable for a train adapted to be connected between adjacent locomotives, transit cars and combinations thereof in a train and easily released therefrom.
In any industry, safety is extremely important. With the heavy machinery and weight of the vehicles involved, it becomes clear that railroad industry has critical safety problems. It is very critical to be able to connect one railway car to another efficiently and safely. A cable, which insures the efficient connection of one railway car to another, provides a great advantage.
The standard multiple use cable in the railway industry fits into a receptacle on a locomotive or a transit car. What is more important, the receptacle has a notched rim with appropriate pins contained therein to receive the multiple use cable. There is a hinged cover for the receptacle, which serves to close and protect the receptacle, when the receptacle is not in use.
Also for the receptacle, a notch within the rim of the receptacle on the locomotive or transit car guides the positioning of the multiple use cable therein. The multiple use cable has a notched head, with a protruding notch adapted to the received by the notched rim. In this fashion, the head is guided into and engages the receptacle.
Oppositely disposed from the notch on the head is a notched slot. As the cover comes down on the head a notched protrusion in the cover engages in the notched slot, with such engagement both positioning and securing the cable in the receptacle.
The difficulty comes when the head on the cable is removed from the receptacle. The cover must be propped up and the cable head jiggled or moved in order separate that cable from the receptacle. With ice and other cold weather problem that the mix, such cable removal becomes a big problem.
Such cables are used between railway vehicles, which require electrical power. The railway vehicle may be a transit car, a locomotive, or any combination thereof. Transit car is a term commonly used to describe the type of the railroad vehicle adapted to carry and move passengers. Such cables, usually referred to as jumper cables or multiple use cables, provide for transmission of electricity throughout the entire length of a train of transit cars, when required. By connecting two adjacent vehicles together, the required electric power for a train can be transmitted through the jumper cables.
Clearly, an individual railway transit car or locomotive hardly ever remains attached to the same adjacent railway car for an extended period of time. Therefore, the jumper cable, which transfers electrical power from car to car, must be disconnected every time a railway car is placed adjacent to a different railway car. Thus, it is definitely an advantage to be able to efficiently release and reattach the jumper cable.
Every current jumper cable requires a two-handed push and pull operation. Usually, the cable is supported in one hand, while a pulling operation occurs with the other hand. Such an operation is very difficult to keep in a substantially straight line or on an axis. Thus, it is very possible that prongs or other supports of the connection, especially those on the locomotive or railway car, may be damaged. Since such damage is difficult and expensive to repair, it is very desirable to avoid this problem.
For such a cable, it is very critical that it be firmly and quickly attached to a railway car on a train and easily released therefrom. Such requirements do not work together. If the jumper cable is quickly attachable, it is difficult to determine the firmness of the attachment. If the jumper cable is firmly attached, ease of release from the railway car becomes problematical. That structure, which permits a quick attachment, mitigates against a firm attachment definitely, and an ease of release probably.
Absolutely, an additional requirement for any such device is that it be durable. Durability is extremely desirable for the cable itself, and almost mandatory in view of the heavy-duty use such a cable receives in the railroad industry. The heavy weight of the railway cars and train engines or locomotives requires the cable itself to be heavy.
Any release mechanism on a jumper cable for a train must be accessible. Some jumper cables with a release mechanism are difficult to operate, because the positioning of the cable between railway cars impedes access to and ease of operation of the safety release cable. Thus, the release mechanism must also be accessible in close quarters.
These features bring the size and positioning of the release mechanism into great question for the safety release cable for a train. The larger the release mechanism is, the easier it may be to operate. The smaller the release mechanism is, the easier it will fit between a pair of railway cars. Both features are desirable and contradictory. A balance between the two requirements must be found in order to provide an effective safety release cable.
No efficient method of releasing a cable exists. Some of the cable receptacles are awkwardly located. Such a location, combined with the size and weight of the cable makes it hard for any electrician to remove a jumper cable located high on locomotive, even those cables with a device to assist the release. Such an awkward location and the weight of the cable combine to limit the electrician""s ability to control the cable at all times, thereby maximizing the chance for injury.
Jumper cables can also be connected in a hard to reach location. For example, some receptacles are positioned either high and away, or low and away between locomotives. Such an awkward position requires to put his body between two locomotives, in order to release the jumper cable. Even so, the electrician for the railroad is many times unable to locate a comfortable position for disconnecting the jumper cable.
Clearly, the jumper cable used to connect two railway vehicles together is exposed to weather conditions. Thus, it is very likely that the jumper cable can be coated with ice. A release mechanism must still operate even in those adverse conditions. Not only that, the worker must be able to operate that release safely. So inappropriate release mechanism will overcome such icing problems. No such mechanism is known in the prior art.
Since the attachment and release of a jumper cable for a train, as used in the railway industry, are so critically important; many efforts to solve these problems are available in the prior art. In spite of all this effort, no device known in the prior art can solve these problems efficiently.
Among the many objectives of this invention is the provision of a safety release cable for a train with an accessible release handle.
A further objective of this invention is the provision of a safety release cable for a train, which is easily operated.
Yet a further objective of this invention is the provision of a safety release cable for a train, which attaches easily between a pair of railway cars.
A still further objective of this invention is the provision of a safety release cable for a train, which attaches firmly between a pair of railway cars.
Another objective of this invention is the provision of a safety release cable for a train, which releases easily from between a pair of railway cars.
Yet another objective of this invention is the provision of a safety release cable for a train, which is durable.
Still, another objective of this invention is the provision of a safety release cable for a train, with some simplified moving parts.
Also, an objective of this invention is the provision of a safety release cable for a train, which is transportable.
A further objective of this invention is the provision of a safety release cable for a train, which releases axially from between a pair of railway cars.
Yet a further objective of this invention is the provision of a safety release cable for a train, which may be released one-handed.
A still further objective of this invention is the provision of a safety release cable for a train, which minimizes the necessity of a person being between railway cars to attach or release a cable.
Another objective of this invention is the provision of a safety release cable for a train, which minimizes the necessity of a person being between two locomotives to attach or release a cable.
Yet another objective of this invention is the provision of a safety release cable for a train, which is controllable during attachment.
Still, another objective of this invention is the provision of a safety release cable for a train, which is controllable during release.
A further objective of this invention is the provision of a safety release cable for a train, which operates in adverse weather conditions.
A still further objective of this invention is the provision of a safety release cable for a train, which reduces work injuries.
These and other objectives of the invention (which other objectives become clear by consideration of the specification, claims and drawings as a whole) are met by providing a safety release cable for a train, which has a release mechanism mounted on a jumper cable with the release mechanism having an easily gripped handle, which activates the release mechanism substantially along a lineal axis of symmetry for the cable housing, and which, in turn, facilitates the attaching to or the releasing of the jumper cable the locomotive or transit car.